B Reviews

Bound to the Sea by Lyra Fawn

Posted on by Dirty Girl Anne

22733140

Grade: B-
Hotness Level: Inferno
Kink Level: No Kink
Genre: Paranormal, Shifter, Serial
Series: Claimed by the Alpha Dolphins #1
Published: 7/15/14
Reviewed by Kate

Two dolphin princes, a gang of murderous shark-shifters, and one little librarian with an over developed sense of curiosity.  Put all in a blender, mix well, and you’ve got the first book in this dolphin-shifter serial.

Lucan and Dario are princes from warring dolphin pods.  They have been exiled and sent to land to find a descendant of Neptune.  The Descendant will be able to finally bring an end to the dolphins’ war.  Mona has been drawn to the water all her life and spends a great deal of her time lying on the beach watching all the surfers.  It’s no surprise that she spots Lucan and Dario the minute they step on the beach. They just have an aura about them.  What is surprising is when, in the midst of a shark attack, she notices them shift into dolphins and drive the shark away.  What’s a girl to do?  She either has to follow them to see if they really did turn into dolphins or she will have to wonder the rest of her life.  Of course, she follows them.

I got a little excited when I read the title of this series.  Dominate dolphin shifters?!  Sign me up.  And I was not disappointed.  Lucan and Dario are both swoon-worthy princes.  Mona is impulsive and carefree.  I feel like her character has some growing to do, but this is only the first part of a serial, so I’ll cut her some slack.  I look forward to seeing where these characters go from here.

I do feel it worth noting that there are a few steamy sex scenes in this book, but no menage scenes…at least not in this installment.

I’m curious on two things though.

1.  I was ridiculously excited to read about dolphin shifters, is there type of shifter that you wish someone would write about?  Or a kind of shifter that you wouldn’t want to read about?

2.  The new fad of serial releases is starting to grow on me a bit.  How about you?  Are you a serial fan or not?

 

Looking For Trouble by Victoria Dahl

Posted on by Dirty Girl Anne

18812457

Grade: B
Hotness Level: Inferno
Kink Level: No Kink
Genre: Contemporary, Small Town
Series: Jackson Girl’s Night Out #1
Published: 7/29/14
Reviewed by Anne
345 pages

A generation ago, Sophie’s mother and Alex’s dad disappeared on the same day, and were never seen again, fueling rumors that they’d run off together.  Alex grew up with his obsessive mom tracking down every lead she could trying to find his dad.  Sophie grew up with her loving father – and with Alex’s mom’s constant trash talking about Sophie’s mom. And Sophie.  This lead to Alex leaving town as soon as he could and never looking back.  Sophie stayed in town her whole life, trying to establish a reputation so good and pure that everyone would overlook her connection to her mother.

A few months ago (in the book Too Hot to Handle), a truck and camper were found with Sophie’s mom’s and Alex’s dad’s bodies inside.  This confirmed that the two ran off together and brought the old scandal to light again in both the town’s and Alex’s mom’s memory.  It also brought Alex back to town for the first time since he left years ago.  When Sophie and Alex meet the chemistry between them is off the charts, but wouldn’t the scandal they could cause be even bigger?

Sophie and Alex are my dream characters!  Sophie is a secretly sexy prim and proper librarian.  Alex is a shaved head, tattooed, biker bad boy.  They are so good for each other and their story was a joy to read.  Sophie’s relationship with her father and brother was also really good, and I enjoyed seeing her grow into herself – in some ways this story is Sophie’s coming of age story.  Alex has some issues to overcome, too.  The fallout of this one event and how it affected the lives of everyone involved is very believable.

On the other hand, the main conflict in this story requires the reader to accept that the town would hold Sophie accountable for her mother’s sins.  It’s certainly something Sophie believes, and it’s both more and less true than she thinks.  This was the weak point in the story for me.  Overall it was really, good, though.

I see by the series label on Goodreads that this book is the first in a new series by Dahl, but it’s clearly linked to her Jackson Hole series, since the events in book 2 are the story of Alex’s brother.  It does stand alone just fine, though, so you could jump in here and do great.

I recommend this book and I enjoyed it very much!  I admitted that the librarian and the bad boy is dream casting for me – how about you?  What’s your favorite hero/heroine combo?

Along Came Trouble by Ruthie Knox

Posted on by Dirty Girl Anne

15761442

Grade: B+
Hotness Level: Blaze
Kink Level: No Kink
Genre: Contemporary
Series: Camelot, #2
Published: 3/11/13
Reviewed by Kate
416 pages

 

Ellen’s twin brother Jamie is famous, really famous.  She can’t imagine having to live with all the security he lives with on a daily basis.  She likes her hard won freedom too much.  But that’s exactly what she’ll have to put up with after Jamie starts dating her neighbor Carly and then dumps her, leaving the paparazzi trampling Ellen’s flowers while trying to get the latest picture of Carly.  But when Caleb (owner of a private security firm) shows up at her door, she’s thinking maybe security won’t be all that bad-until he starts talking about all the changes she’ll need to make in her life.

 

I loved Ellen’s character.  She’s finally figured out who she is and what she wants out of life after a childhood that was all about Jamie and an alcoholic, womanizing ex-husband.  Then Caleb comes sauntering up to her door.  He has all these grand ideas and she wants nothing to do with them.  She wants the life she fought for.  And Caleb is one of those rare heroes that actually listens.  But he’s walking a fine line between allowing Ellen her independence and protecting her from dangers she doesn’t think are really there.  The verbal sparring between these two was trophy-worthy. And the between-the-sheets sparring was great too.

 

I think it’s worth noting that Ellen does have a 2 year old son Henry that I found, quite honestly, annoying.  Mainly the way he spoke.  It just grated every time.  At the same time, the way Caleb interacted with Henry actually melted my heart a little.  I just wish the kid had been a little more quiet.

 

My sister Anne has been raving about Ruthie Knox for a while now and I see what she was talking about.  Between the strong characters (both main and secondary) she creates, the wonderful dialogue, and the steamy romance I just couldn’t stop turning pages.  I can’t wait to pick up another of her books!